Baranya Hawall
Baranya is one of Ground Man's great characters! She's great! We swear! "The light of Iomedae shines within us all; even if, in some, it is cloaked in darkness." -Baranya Hawall Major''' Baranya Elena Hawall (b. 27 Erastus, 982 AC) 'of the Church of the Miraculous Blade, Guildmistress of the Lion's Pride Adventuring Concern, is a priestess, military officer, and paladin of Iomedae operating out of Falador. This tall, Northern human is distinguished easily by her distinctive metal prosthetic leg. History The middle child of a merchant and a militaman, Baranya was raised in the silver-mining town of Argent Pass in the Northern Tundra, which exists in close proximity to a cathedral of Iomedae, a middling distance away from the orcish stronghold of Warforge. The Iomedaeans recognized the girl's gift for insight early on, and convinced her to join the faith as an acolyte. At the cathedral, Baranya learned how to fight, but more importantly, she was taught why and when to fight; "to defend or to pre-emptively defend the innocent" and "when all other options have been eliminated". By Baranya's own admission, the latter lesson was not one wholly learned; her failure to consider options other than combat cost Baranya the lives of her closest friends, the trust of her fellows at the cathedral, and the full use of her left leg. On 5th Sarenith, 1004 AC, Baranya; her nascent adventuring company, the Copper Rose; and a contingent force of eight Iomedaean paladins responded to rumors of orcish slavers launching a raid on a nearby settlement. The force located the orcs, who appeared to be struggling with their wagon on the side of the road. Baranya climbed a tree for a better vantage point; from her perch, she determined that the best course of action was to charge to orcs from their flank, as they appeared to be unaware of the impending attack. Unfortunately, the orcs were actually lying in ambush themselves; almost immediately after she gave the fateful order to charge, an orcish archer shot Baranya in the left shin with a barbed, poisoned arrow, causing the cleric to fall out of the tree, snapping the shaft of the arrow off and further breaking her leg. The shock caused Baranya to pass out. When she awoke, two weeks had passed. Despite the orcish counter-ambush, the Iomedaeans had prevailed... but at great cost. Of the twelve members of the expedition, only three had survived, and only one had made it out unscathed. Four of the nine that had perished were able to be raised by the head priest of the cathedral, but they were unable to afford to raise anyone else. The other members of the Copper Rose were gone, as were two promising young Iomedaean knights. The blame had fallen on Baranya; she was the one who ordered the charge, after all. In the eyes of the citizens of Argent Pass, she was just as responsible for the financial and emotional costs of the deaths as the orcs had been; in the eyes of the senior priests, Baranya had become political poison, a wedge between them and the community. Some months after the incident that crippled her, Baranya was approached by the senior leaders of the cathedral. Being a merchant's daughter, Baranya could tell she was being delivered a sales pitch; their talk about "spreading the faith to the southwestern reaches" and "ensuring the just have solace in the faraway city of Falador" was code for "everyone in town hates your guts now, and we can barely tolerate you, but we'll let you stay a priestess if you just leave and never come back". Baranya went into exile, hoping that the journey would give her the means to rectify the wrong she feels she committed. Appearance Baranya possesses the sturdy frame of one forged in the crucible of battle. She wears the officer's uniform of the city of Falador, and keeps several changes of this outfit handy. Baranya is never seen without her silver holy symbol of Iomedae, a gift from her mother on the day she was formally ordained as a cleric. Baranya's left leg has been completely replaced by a prosthesis made of steel; the guts of the contraption are held together by a ironwood-mithril weave, and has been enchanted to allow increased mobility. The holy symbol of Iomedae is engraved on the kneecap. Her longsword, an enchanted steel blade of elven manufacture, is named ''Taeniir. ''She also carries an enchanted adamantine bastard sword, once named ''Follower's Edge, but now called Demetri. When kitted out for battle, Baranya wears a set of expertly-crafted plate mail over her military outfit. When knowingly setting forth against the forces of Evil (undead, evil outsiders, aberrations, mortal followers of evil deities), Baranya wears a tabard, quartered in red and white, and emblazoned with the holy symbol of Iomedae. Personality Baranya tries her best to be friendly, humble, and steadfast, but in her darker moments, she is prone to wrathful overtures. She is emphatic in her personal devotion to Iomedae's teachings, but actively tries to shy away from preaching or proselytizing. In addition to being a cleric, she is also a paladin, and devotes herself to the Iomedaean code of honor. She believes that a truly just society must also be merciful and nurturing, while also being steadfast in defending against sin, both venial and mortal. Once plagued by guilt, now Baranya is resolute, determined as never before to push forward and achieve her goals. Since arriving in Falador, Baranya has become known as something between a curiosity (on account of her leg) and a fuddy-duddy; she has a reputation (undeserved, in her eyes) of being an enemy of fun. Friends Baranya counts Isolde, Erinal, Raoflin, Tanya, Scharp, and Gideon amongst her friends in the adventuring community. She tolerated Demetri, who (along with Raoflin) was a fellow co-founder of the Lion's Pride adventuring concern. In addition, Baranya has lent out the sanctum of her temple to Arakio, in the hopes of keeping an eye on the kitsune and perhaps curing his unique affliction. Baranya looks favorably on those who worship other goodly deities, especially Shelyn, Sarenrae, and Erastil. Back home, her family are still her staunchest (one might say 'only remaining') allies: her mother, Elena; father, Henrik; elder sister, Pietra; and younger brother, Istvan. Enemies Baranya considers herself an enemy of the Church of the Duke of Fissures, Jiraviddain the Shepherd, but her attempts to fight against the group's influence in Falador has borne no fruit. Her top foes in the cult's hierarchy are the high priest of Jiraviddain, Zilos, and the oracle Raphael. Baranya also suspects there being more at work to seduce the folk of Falador to sin, but has not been able to pinpoint what. In general, Baranya loathes those who openly worship any evil deity or outsider, but especially followers of Rovagug, Lamashtu, Asmodeus, Urgathoa, and Maloglash. To this end, she keeps a critical eye on the Asmodean cleric, Elora, waiting for the first hint of treachery from the Hellknight. She also personally detests the practice of slavery, and despises those who profit from the practice of slavery (which, in her mind, includes necromancers, as she sees the creation of undead as spiritual slavery). Baranya has a great disdain for Northern Orcs, especially those hailing from Warforge, as she has suffered much at the hands of their predation. Aspirations Baranya's aspirations have evolved, much like the woman who holds them; for her, courage is the greatest gift Iomedae has to offer, and that is the spirit that Baranya seeks to inspire in those she meets. She years to see Falador throw off the shackles of sin and assert itself as a continental power that does not rely on wickedness to make its way in the world. Baranya also seeks to return the friends and comrades she lost a year ago back to life, starting with her fiancée, Taeniir Lanmiriel. Category:Player Characters